A/N: Hello guys! How have you been? So so so so sorry it has taken me what, three weeks? You see, this was finals week, and I was super busy, but right now, I am on spring break, so hopefully, with a little help from my beta, Charlotte - thank you love! - I can start updating a little bit quicker.

Now, in response to the reviews from last chapter:

j-jip: Thank you so much for your constant reviews! And it really is an interesting prospect, isn't it?

Kim Ng Ng: Thank you for the review! And for loving my story, it really does mean a lot to me!

Okay, now, as I was writing this chapter, there were a couple of tracks I simply could not stop listening to. Perhaps you should try checking them out? Sedated by Hozier was constantly playing, and I Love You (album) by The Neighbourhood was on repeat.

I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but I wrote two short little one-shots! Lily Evans did not like flowers very much and That Redheaded Girl. Please read them and tell me what you thought?

Disclaimer: I am not Rowling, nor have I ever been, so none of the characters belong to me.

Now, onto the story!

"Good morning, class!" Professor Filius Flitwick greeted the seventh year Gryffindors. Because nearly every seventh year had signed up for Charms this year, the faculty couldn't provide mixed House classes like they could for Divination, Arithmancy and such. Only one house constituted each class, but the Charms classroom was still a ruckus anyway.

It wasn't that professor Flitwick couldn't calm the students down – although his short stature didn't inspire nearly as much authority as Professor McGonagall. The problem was that, being part of the N.E.W.T course, the Charms lessons were now less about theory and more about practice.

There were constantly groups of students gathering, with the teenagers trying to help each other as much as possible… and, of course, the amount of note-passing was incredible.

I chucked a piece of parchment at Sirius.

Oi, Black!

Quickly, he read the note and responded with one of his own:

Evans. Thanks for fixing me up last night. How shall I repay you?

I looked at him, and he mimed tipping off an imaginary hat.

Oh, are you up for a little bit of mischief?

His eyes sparkled and I could tell he was getting very excited at my proposition. I filled Sirius in on our plan for a ladies night, and asked him for the map and the cloak. He told me he had it under control, and Sirius Black was the most trustworthy person I knew – I would trust him with my life.

The girls and I were sneaking off to Hogsmeade this Saturday. Although Sirius tried to move the date, we really wanted to go there this weekend. My guess was it was Frank's birthday pretty soon and Alice wanted to take a look around before buying him anything. I too wanted to check what the stores had to offer on a quieter day – or, in our case, night.

We didn't even know what we'd be doing exactly, but my guess was a quiet meal at the Three Broomsticks.

For some weird reason, I was anxious about talking to James this morning, so anxious I found myself actively avoiding the bloke. It wasn't that he'd done anything, or that anything out of the ordinary happened, but the intensity with which he had looked at me last night still burned in the back of my mind.

I wanted to confront Severus about last night's events, but the hate he felt for Sirius was only bettered by the despise he felt towards James. Perhaps it was due to their easy life together, or at least easy in comparison to his father's abuse. But he should know better than anyone that appearances are often wrong – Sirius' family life was enough as it was, and now that the Potters had passed away, I couldn't imagine how either of the two boys felt.

Pretty soon the class was over, and the teacher had assigned half a metre of parchment on the theory of the Patronus charm. We were going to start attempting it next term.

Before heading to lunch, I swung by the library to pick up some books on hexes and curses. I started this habit when Snape first started to hang around with his dark companions. If anything were to happen – Merlin forbid – I wanted to be prepared to defend and heal those around me.

However, ever since last year, their curses had grown darker, and more evil. Most of the books that covered those curses were stored in the Restricted Section, but Professor Slughorn always gave me a permission slip.

Now that I was of age, those weren't needed anymore; most of the seventh years were legal adults by now, and it would be a waste of time to try and track every book the older portion of the student body checked out of the library.

I picked up an old favourite, if you could call something like that a favourite, and a new book I'd just spotted for the first time. The cover was purple and it was a pretty battered volume. It wasn't very large, about 300 pages, and its title was "Curses of TMR – Volume II".

I had never seen the first volume anywhere in the library, so my guess was this copy belonged to a student – and one of the pureblood supremacists, by the looks of it. However, I didn't want to jump to conclusions, so I decided to speak to James about it, him being Head Boy and all. It was the smart thing to do.

Because Charms had been a double period, the seventh years were now allowed to head to lunch. I sat down at the House Table, but sadly none of my usual companions were in the Great Hall – just like they hadn't been for breakfast. What were they up to? I knew Frank Longbottom never missed a meal, and wherever he was, so was Alice. And Peter Pettigrew, missing pork chops? That was unheard of.

I silently ate my food, not really tasting anything, and wandered off to catch up on some reading. My Transfiguration class wouldn't begin for another twenty minutes and I didn't feel like reading that particular volume in the comfortable armchairs of the library. Instead of heading back there, I picked up my book bag and headed off to the Room of Requirement.

When I got there, and actually entered the room, it had materialized into a room that looked very much like the school library, except it was Unplottable, and possessed only one big satin green armchair.

Once I sat down and started to read the book, I discovered it was actually a journal. There weren't chapters, and it was obviously handwritten, which only confirmed my beliefs of it belonging to a student.

The first few pages talked about power, and it looked like something that would come out of Voldemort's mouth. The curses were dark, and the doodles were gruesome. It also showed some counter-curses, but most of it were simply pages and pages of Latin names – the incantations – and the most basic effects – gashes across the body, dark bruises which grew all through the body, freezing of the blood…

I'd read about some of those curses and jinxes, but most of them seemed completely new to my eye. Again, I suspected someone had invented them, much like Severus had invented Sectumsempra.

I wished for an owl and the room presented me with Leeyana, and I quickly scribbled a note.

"Meet me at Dumbledore's, immediately. – L.E."

It was short and urgent, and I bid Leeyana goodbye, in hope that she would deliver it to James Potter as quickly as possible.

The trip to Dumbledore's office was a tricky one. The halls were flooded with students and I couldn't see anything. I actually had to turn around a few times because I kept forgetting things on the floor. Once I got to the statue, I noticed James running towards it too. Apparently, Leeyana had accomplished her task and James had come straight here.

"What's wrong? Is everything alright?" His voice cracked. Instead of replying directly to him, I placed the purple book on his hand.

"Mint Sorbet." The statue moved aside and we climbed the stairs.

The Headmaster's door was closed, and after seeing what all of it was about, James was ready to barge in without even knocking. I, however, kept my mind clear and held him back.

I lifted my wrist to knock, but just before my had touched the wooden door, it opened, as if Dumbledore had been watching us all along, or somehow knew we were there. Well, of course, nothing could escape the wise old wizard.

"Miss Evans. Mister Potter," he greeted us, with a slight twinkle in his eyes, one that I had never seen him without. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" he asked us. His half-moon shaped glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, and barely moved when James threw the hefty journal onto the Headmaster's desk.

"Someone left this in the library. I think it belongs to one of the students," I explained as calmly as possible.

"Well, why is it so important? It appears to be nothing more than an old journal," he said, flipping through the pages. It was clear he was aware of the content, but somehow he didn't look concerned about it. "This is very dark magic, but I can assure you, the faculty will do the best to prevent any usage of these curses."

"How are you not worried about this?" I exploded. It wasn't like me to lose my temper – well, it was, but certainly not in front of Albus Dumbledore.

"I assure you, Miss Evans, you have nothing to worry about. The situation is under control," he assured me.

For the first time that afternoon, James spoke up. "Oh, yeah? Perhaps you should turn to the last page, Headmaster," he snapped.

Dumbledore did as requested, and suddenly he had a sombre expression on his face, and the twinkle always present completely vanished from his eyes.

"Thank you for delivering this, Miss Evans. Mister Potter, I suggest you fill the girl in. You may go now." He bid us goodbye.

The dark door closed behind us. "What the hell was that about?" I asked him. I was riled up, and I wanted answers.

"Didn't you see who that belonged to?" James asked me. He sat down on the stairs, and I followed suit.

"No, I didn't. T.M.R, or something like that, I think," I explained. "What does it stand for?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

I was astonished. Tom Marvolo Riddle? Who was he, and how was we able to rile up Dumbledore so badly? However, James filled me in on the details. Turns out that Tom Marvolo Riddle was Voldemort. After leaving Hogwarts, he had changed his name and his appearance, becoming the darkest wizard after Grindelwald.

James was one of the few who knew about Voldemort's previous identity; of course, this only happened because James' father used to be head of the Auror Office, thus being completely in the know.

We talked about it for hours; we'd even seen McGonnagal come up the stairs – I guessed we had missed Transfiguration, but she hadn't looked mad in the slightest.

"Doesn't this feel incredibly wrong to you?" I told James, while we walked back to the Head Common Room.

"What do you mean?" he inquired.

"Out there, there's a war, people are dying, and we are here sitting, waiting for everyone else to sort things out," I explained to him.

James chuckled in response.

"What?" I asked him, flustered.

"Of course you would say that." James gazed at me. "Lily Evans, you are something."

My cheeks flooded with colour. However, I ignored my hormones and asked him, "Don't you think we should do something?"

"Well… I am sure we could do something, you know. But I don't think Dumbledore would want us messing with things." He raised his hand to his messy mop of hair. "But Dumbledore's not going to be around forever," he said, thoughtfully.

"So it's completely necessary," I spoke.

"Completely, yeah." He seemed to contemplate things for a bit. "What do you reckon we could do? How can we help?"

"Well… Our classes are great, but the teachers seem kind of afraid to teach us some things, don't you agree?"

"I think we should make a little class, y'know? Like, teach some things to the fifth and sixth years," he said, a mischievous glint flashing through his hazel eyes.

"Definitely. I mean, I think only those years are mature enough to handle some things… And they will be in charge of the student body next year," I pointed out.

"And, I'm pretty good at Transfiguration-"

"Shocker." I muttered under my breath. Of course James Potter wouldn't miss an opportunity to boost his ego.

"And Evans, you're brilliant at Charms and Potions!" he finished with a smile. Immediately, I regretted thinking so poorly of him.

"Oh, yes! And we could set it up in the Room Of Requirement!" I told him excitedly. I noticed we had already walked into the Common Room, and had sat down on the big, scarlet couch.

We chatted for a bit longer, and soon enough it was time for Supper. The House Elves always cooked the most amazing food. The pumpkin juice was delightful, and the pudding was fantastic, as usual.

The Marauders wanted to escape the castle tonight and Marlene, Alice and I were all on board, but suddenly, I didn't feel so safe anymore. Besides, there was simply too much to prepare!

James promised to speak to the boys about our newest idea, while my mission was to inform the girls.

The seven of us met in the Head Common Room, which, to be quite honest, was starting to look more and more like the Seventh Year Common Room. After all, the only Gryffindor Seventh Years rarely frequented the House Room altogether.

After a quiet few hours, everyone was filled in on the idea, and all of us were getting more and more excited by the minute. We were finally going to do something! Personally, I felt incredibly useless knowing that a war was raging in our world, and we were stuck inside these walls.

"I talked to Lucas about it," Marlene whispered in my ear.

"You did?" I asked her. "What did he say?"

"Well, he says he's going to try to stop any direct confrontations, but really, there's not much he can do about it. After all, it would be damaging for the pupils to see their mentors fighting. It could lead to a feeling of unease…" She rolled her eyes so thoroughly that I was surprised they didn't stick to the back of her eyelids. "At least that's how he puts it. Complete rubbish, if you ask me."

"Oi, Prongs!" Sirius called James' attention. "Don't you think we should talk to other people about this? After all, isn't the whole point of this to help the kids grow a pair?" A smirk, his trademark smirk, played on Sirius Black's face. His grey eyes glistened with excitement, as did everyone else's.

"Sirius, do you have any idea of the amount of self-restraint one must possess in order to not whack you in the head?" Remus shook his head. "Unbelievable." But he too was grinning.

After a little more playful banter, none of us had the energy to deal with such powerful issues. The dark of the day was finally wearing me out, and I soon retreated to my bedroom.

Climbing up the stairs, clinging to the railing, I felt someone grab my wrist. James. His hands where calloused from all the Quidditch, but they were warm, and his grip was gentle.

"Yes?" I asked him, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Are you alright?" the Marauder asked quietly.

"Reckon I'm just tired. Are you going up soon?"

"I think I'm going to."

"Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight, Lily."

My heart was beating rapidly, but I knew it was useless. James Potter was my friend, and that was all there was to it. Really. Nothing between us could ever work out. Not that I wanted anything to. But his hands were warm, and his grip was gentle, and at the time, I simply wanted to feel safe.

On top of my wooden desk was a letter. The envelope was white, and the calligraphy was messy – it belonged to the one and only, Emmeline Vance.

Hoping it would distract me from such crazy, insane thoughts, I opened the damn thing and began to read.

Dear Lily,

How have you been?! I've missed you incredibly! Things here are so messed up. Well, in a good way, I think, but chaotic nevertheless. You have no idea how frustrating, and yet satisfying at the same time it is to get up at six a.m. every morning for class.

Well, living in that castle of yours, you probably do know the feeling - yikes. When you come back home, I want you to show me all the new cool things you learned. That room temperature charm you put on my room is still as good as new, so thanks for that.

I guess you really aren't useless at all, are you Evans? Just kidding, love! You know I worship your existence.

And that Sirius friend of yours is quite shaggable, he is. Let's hope that Potter boy is as well, eh? Oh, and me and Sarah – not Heather – are still going strong. You know I need someone to calm me down.

Love you,

Em.

I stripped off of my outfit and cuddled up into my pyjamas. It was going to be a long night… Hell, it had been a long day! But the prospect of doing something to help the other students was more than enough to send me into a deep state of slumber.

A/N: Taa-daaaaaa! How did you guys like it? Is it living up to your expectations? None of you talked about Emmeline, but if you wish to do so, you still can! I love hearing from you guys! But really, I am super excited for this story, I have some really cool ideas! Please let me know!

Reviews are what makes chocolate cookies.

Love,

Adriana